UCLA, torn apart by violent protests against Israel’s war with Hamas last spring, unveiled a plan Thursday aimed at rebuilding trust and connections on campus with enhanced security measures, broader dialogue across differences, free speech guidelines and greater efforts to support diversity.
In a letter to the Bruins community three weeks before the start of fall classes, Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt said the “difficult spring” underscored the urgent need for new initiatives to repair the damage done to campus trust and unity.
UCLA gained international attention in April, when video footage showed a violent nighttime attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment by counterprotesters armed with metal pipes, wooden planks, fists and fireworks. Law enforcement forcibly dismantled the encampment shortly afterward, arresting 231 people, including about 90 students. The security lapses prompted UCLA to reassign its police chief. Faculty members, outraged by the police actions, organized votes of censure and no confidence in then-chancellor Gene Block, which failed.
Meanwhile, a congressional committee subpoenaed Block for questioning over his handling of anti-Semitism, and three Jewish students sued UCLA for failing to protect their access to campus walkways and buildings, which they said were blocked by Palestinian supporters after they asked if they were Zionists.
Moving forward, Hunt said his four-point plan would aim for a “safer, stronger UCLA,” with reviews of policing practices, campus-wide efforts to build community and updated guidelines on free speech activities.
“As a campus that promotes inclusive excellence, we must protect the ability of Bruins of all backgrounds and identities to feel safe, welcome, respected and able to participate fully in campus life,” Hunt wrote. “We may not always agree on important and timely issues, but if we engage with one another with respect and empathy, we can both grow as people and maintain a healthy campus environment for all.”
UCLA’s new free speech guidelines are in line with the University of California’s strict new guidelines for handling protests. University President Michael V. Drake has asked all 10 UC campuses to post free speech rules and notify students of them before the start of their fall semester, a move aimed at complying with a state legislative mandate. UCLA and six other UC undergraduate campuses begin classes the week of Sept. 23; UC Berkeley and UC Merced began last month.
The UCLA policies, released Wednesday, take effect immediately as interim rules until they are finalized after a 60-day public review process. They specify approved free speech zones, omitting Royce Quad as one of them. The Quad was a major conflict zone last spring, as the site of the Palestine Solidarity Camp and a pro-Israel zone featuring a massive jumbotron that projected video loops of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel.
Free speech areas include Bruin Walk and Plaza outside the Student Union and Pauley Hall, as well as the East Lawn next to Janss Steps.
The rules prohibit the setting up of tents, campsites and other temporary structures on UCLA grounds without prior approval and prohibit access to walkways and buildings. Sound amplification will be prohibited during marches, but it will generally be allowed under certain restrictions. Concealing one’s identity while violating laws or rules will be prohibited. In addition, the rules detail procedures for holding events on campus and reiterate that the campus will be closed from midnight to 6 a.m. for activities, with limited exceptions.
In addition to new free speech policies, the plan calls for a focus on safety and well-being on campus. After the clashes on the night of April 30, UCLA created a new Office of Campus Safety, hired former Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel to lead it and transferred all policing and emergency management programs to that office. The office, in collaboration with the University of California, is reviewing security protocols and the police response to last spring’s protests.
But Hunt said the office would expand its responsibilities beyond handling protests. A 2022 report on campus safety noted that students, faculty and staff expressed concerns not only about campus policing, but also mental health, COVID protection, racism and sexism, active shooter and earthquake preparedness and sexual assault. UCLA will include broader issues in the expanded charge as it continues its listening sessions, Hunt said.
UCLA will also launch several programs aimed at building understanding between those who disagree. Across the UC system, many students, faculty and administrators say the divisions over the war between Israel and Hamas have torn their campuses apart in unprecedented ways. Hunt said a first step in bridging those divides is “seeing each other as real people shaped by complex backgrounds and experiences — not just stereotypes.”
UCLA will launch a new speaker series this fall featuring “provocative yet empathetic conversations” on current issues. The first event will be hosted by Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, an Israeli Bedouin physician and fellow at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
“Talking Across Conflict” workshops will focus on building the skills needed to have constructive conversations across political differences. New student internship programs and teaching fellowships on effective dialogue are also planned. Many of these programs will be hosted at the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute and led by David Myers, a professor of Jewish history who has long been involved in bridging efforts.
“In a community as diverse as ours, part of our learning and growth comes from engaging with perspectives we may not agree with or readily understand,” Hunt wrote. “While this can be uncomfortable, it is also what helps us to think more deeply, evaluate different approaches, and consider new ways of looking at a problem. Ultimately, this advances truth, knowledge, and understanding.”
Hunt also said UCLA will continue to look for ways to foster greater support for its diverse community. Its Office of Civil Rights, for example, is currently reviewing reports of anti-Semitism, as well as anti-Arab and Islamophobic discrimination, to understand how it has affected the student experience.
“UCLA is a spectacular place, but it is by no means perfect,” Hunt said. “It is essential that UCLA commit to rigorously studying the challenges we have faced and how we have addressed them—and making changes based on those findings—if it is to best fulfill its important academic mission and meet the needs of its students, faculty and staff.”
